A bizarre incident in the second T20I between Australia and West Indies today (February 11) saw Alzarri Joseph deemed not out despite falling short of his crease while running between the wickets, after Australia failed to appeal.
When did the incident occur?
The West Indies were already out of contention for the win when the incident took place. Chasing 242 for victory after Glenn Maxwell’s fifth T20I century put the hosts in control of the game, West Indies were 190-9 in the 19th over with Joseph the new batter in the middle.
Joseph played his second ball from Cameron Green to the cover fielder, Mitchell Marsh, in the ring. Marsh threw the ball into the non-striker’s end stumps, with Green taking the ball and removing the bails immediately as Joseph ran through.
On first look, it looked a close call as to whether Joseph had made his ground in time or not. However, Green and the fielders had no reaction, and no one appealed for the wicket.
Replays showed Joseph had in fact fallen short of his crease by several inches at the time the wicket was broken. The umpire was heard over the microphone saying ‘no appeal’. Joseph was allowed to continue his innings and finished unbeaten on two.
Was the right decision made? What do the laws say?
Law 31.1, ‘umpire not to give batter out without an appeal’, states: “Neither umpire shall give a batter out, even though he/she may be out under the Laws, unless appealed to by a fielder. This shall not debar a batter who is out under any of the Laws from leaving the wicket without an appeal having been made.”
Thus, because the Australian fielders failed to appeal at the time of the incident, the umpire did not send the decision upstairs to check whether Joseph had in fact made his ground. Had they done so, Joseph would have been given out.
Australian fielders arguing with the umpire following the Alzarri Joseph not out decision.
After watching the replays on the big screen, Tim David was heard telling umpire Gerard Abood that he had appealed at the time. Following back-and-forth protests from the Australia fielders, Abood said: “Guys, we’re getting into really poor territory, get on with the game.”
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